Container fabricating machine

ABSTRACT

A container fabricating machine having a forming mechanism for erecting and bottom sealing paperboard container blanks and a filling mechanism for filling and top-sealing the bottom formed containers. The bottom forming mechanism includes a plurality of mandrels mounted on a spindle that are intermittently driven past a plurality of the mechanism&#39;&#39;s operating stations, the bottom formed containers being discharged from the mechanism in a downwardly inclined direction and a transfer mechanism for gripping the bottom of the discharged containers and pivoting them to an upright position. The filling mechanism includes a feeding mechanism that receives the containers from the transfer mechanism and grips all four corners of the bottom formed containers while advancing them through the filling mechanism&#39;&#39;s filling and sealing operations and that is readily adjustable to accommodate containers of various base sizes without disturbing the machine&#39;&#39;s overall synchronization.

United States Patent King et al. Oct. 24, 1972 [54] CONTAINER FABRICATING MACHINE Primary Examiner-iheron E. Condon Assistant Examiner-Eugene F. Desmond 7 I t Pe l 2] men ors m f' fgz ggtgl Attorney-Finnegan, Henderson and Farabow [73] Assignee: Haskon Incorporated, Warsaw, Ind. [57] ABSTRACT [22] Filed: Jan. 7, 1970 A container fabricating machine having a forming mechanism for erecting and bottom sealing paper- [Zl] Appl' L273 board container blanks and a filling mechanism for filling and top-sealing the bottom formed containers. [52] [1.8. CI ..53/l86, 53/375 The bottom forming mechanism includes a plurality of [5 1] Int. Cl. ..B65b 43/32 mandrels mounted on a spindle that are intermittently [53] Field of Search ....53/l86, 373, 375. 183; 93/36, driven P a plurality of the mechanisms operating 93/44.l. I98, 103, 169 stations, the bottom formed containers being discharged from the mechanism in a downwardly 5 mm inclined direction and a transfer mechanism for gripping the bottom of the discharged containers and UNITED STATES PATENTS pivoting them to an upright position. The filling 2 957 289 10/1960 Monroe a al 53/186 mechanism includes a feeding mechanism that 3120'089 2/1964 Monroe at "53/186 receives the containers from the transfer mechanism 3200557 8H9 Schwenk /373 x and grips all four corners of the bottom formed con- 3 364 826 1/1968 Austin 6;; 53/186 x wine .while advancing 3 i 3 3s3 s29 5/1968 Duddleston et al 53/186 x mechams'ws and Sean; and that 3'486423 l2/l969 53,186 X readily ad ustable to accommodate contamers of van- 2'212472 8/1940 3/44 1 R ous base sizes without disturbing the machine s overall y a t l h ti I R26,656 9/1969 Guzzardo ..93/36R sync 27 Claims, 34 Drawing Figures PATENTED 24 I97? 3.699 T43 SHEET (MW 19 A I (5 g l N Q9 g 3 m w N a m k w 3 1 B N y H. O W 3 (Q 1M N W N IHVEHTOIS PERCY KING HOWARD R. GARRETT Flanagan, jfenduson $5M ATTOR N EYS PATENTED OCT 24 I972 sum D20F 19 INVENTOIS PERCY KING HOWARD R GARRETT jzzmgamj/mdason QZZmKo/A ATTHRNI ZYF PATENTEUHN 9 3.699.743

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INVENTOIS PERCY KING FIG. 8

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HOWARD R. GARRETT 3720 3 6112, flaw/(Q7 ATTORNEYS 

1. In a machine for forming, filling, and sealing tubular container blanks having top and bottom foldable closure panels, a container forming mechanism comprising: a. a supporting structure; b. a spindle mounted to the structure for rotation about a horizontal axis; c. means for rotating said spindle with an indexing motion; d. a plurality of mandrels mounted on the spindle and extending radially therefrom for receiving and holding a container blank in an open position; e. means defining a plurality of machine stations located on the structure and spaced about the axis of rotation of the spindle for sequential registration with said mandrels, said machine station means including: i. container blank erecting means for erecting a blank into open-ended tubular form and for feeding said opened blank onto a mandrel, ii. container bottom forming means for breaking, heating, folding, and sealing the bottom closure panels of the opened container of the mandrel, and iii. container removing means located in a lower quadrant of the path of rotation of the spindle for removing a bottom formed container off the mandrel in a downwardly inclined direction; and f. transfer means for receiving said container removed from the mandrel and for gripping and pivoting said container through an angle of substantially 45* to an upright position, said transfer means comprising: i. a transfer arm pivotally mounted for movement between a first position substantially aligned with the inclined axis of discharge of containers and a second upright position, ii. a suction cup mounted on one end of the arm for receiving and gripping the bottom of a container as it is removed from the coNtainer forming mechanism, iii. actuating means for pivoting the arm and the container between said first and second positions, and iv. means for selectively rotating the arm and cup 90* as it moves between said first and second positions to rotate the container about its longitudinal axis.
 2. The machine of claim 1, in which the container blank erecting means is located in a lower quadrant of the path of rotation of the spindle and the container removing means is located in the opposite lower quadrant of the path of rotation of the spindle.
 3. The machine of claim 1, in which the longitudinal axis of a mandrel in registration with said container removing means is inclined at an angle of approximately 45 degrees to the horizontal and the container removing means removes the container from the mandrel in a downward direction coextensive with the axis of the mandrel.
 4. The machine of claim 3, in which the container removing means comprises container engaging means for pushing a bottom-formed container off the mandrel and a downwardly inclined chute for receiving and guiding the container as it is removed from the mandrel.
 5. The machine of claim 4, in which the container engaging means comprises an endless chain whose direction of travel is parallel to the axis of the mandrel and having a container engaging lug for pushing the container off the mandrel.
 6. The machine of claim 5, including a pair of endless chains on either side of the mandrel.
 7. The machine of claim 1, in which the means for rotating the arm includes fixed cam means, a cam follower connected to said arm, and a biasing spring for rotating the cam follower and the arm as the arm pivots between said first and second positions, and locking means selectively locking the cam follower in a fixed position to prevent rotation of the arm.
 8. The machine of claim 1, in which the arm is axially adjustable to accommodate containers of varying lengths.
 9. The machine of claim 1, in which the bottom forming means includes: a. bottom panel breaking means for breaking inwardly the bottom closure panels of the container; b. heating means for heating the broken bottom closure panels; c. folding means for folding the heated closure panels to form a bottom to the container; and d. a pressure sealing means to seal the folded bottom closure panels shut.
 10. The machine of claim 9, including top closure panel breaking means operative simultaneously with said pressure sealing means to break inwardly the top closure panels of the container blank.
 11. The machine of claim 10, in which the machine has eight (8) radial arms and eight (8) correspondingly spaced machine stations, said container blank erecting means being located at a first machine station, said bottom panel breaking means being located at the second station, said heating means being located at the third and fourth stations, said folding means being located between the fourth and fifth stations; said pressure sealing means being located at the fifth and sixth stations, and the container removing means being located at the seventh station.
 12. The machine of claim 11, including pressure cooling means located at the eighth station.
 13. A machine for forming, filling, and sealing tubular container blanks having top and bottom foldable closure panels, including a container forming mechanism comprising: a. a supporting structure; b. a spindle mounted to the structure for rotation about a horizontal axis; c. means for rotating said spindle with an indexing motion; d. a plurality of mandrels mounted on the spindle and extending radially therefrom for receiving and holding a container blank in an open position; e. means defining a plurality of machine stations located on the structure and spaced about the axis of rotation of the spindle for sequential registration with said mandrels, said machine station means including: i. container blank erecting means for erecting A blank into open-ended tubular form and for feeding said opened blank onto a mandrel, ii. container bottom forming means for breaking, heating, folding, and sealing the bottom closure panels of the opened container on the mandrel, and iii. container removing means located in a lower quadrant of the path of rotation of the spindle for removing a bottom formed container off the mandrel in a downwardly inclined direction; f. transfer means for receiving said container removed from the mandrel and for gripping and pivoting said container through an angle of substantially 45* to an upright position; and g. a container filling mechanism having a feeding mechanism for receiving the container blanks in an upright position from the transfer means and for feeding the blanks with a step-by-step indexing motion successively into registration with filler means for filling the bottom formed containers and top sealing means for sealing closed the top closure panels said feeding mechanism comprising: i. a supporting surface for supporting the bottom of the containers along which the containers are advanced through the filling mechanism, ii. a pair of endless chain assemblies arranged in spaced parallel relation on opposite sides of the direction of travel of the container, iii. means for adjusting the chain assemblies toward and away from each other, iv. a plurality of conveyor blocks mounted on said chains in opposed transverse registration, each block of a first pair of opposed blocks having corner means for engaging a leading corner of a container and each block of the next succeeding pair of opposed blocks having corner means for engaging a trailing corner of the container, v. each of said blocks of said first pair also having similar corner means for engaging a trailing corner of the next preceding container and each of said blocks of the next succeeding pair having similar corner means for engaging a leading corner of the next succeeding container whereby the containers are firmly gripped by the corner means of adjacent pairs of opposed blocks as they move through the machine, and vi. each of said blocks further having a plurality of corresponding, leading, and trailing corner means for accommodating containers of different base sizes.
 14. The machine of claim 13, in which corner means on adjacent pairs of opposed blocks are symmetrical about a vertical axis which is coextensive with the longitudinal axis of the different sized containers held by the blocks.
 15. The machine of claim 13, wherein the transfer means pivoting the bottom-formed container into an upright position throws the container into one end of the feeding mechanism so that the leading corners of the container engage the corner means on the first pair of opposed blocks and thereafter the trailing corners of the container are brought into engagement with the corner means on the next pair of opposed blocks, said transfer means releasing the container after the container is engaged with the first pair of blocks.
 16. The machine of claim 13, wherein the adjusting means comprises guide means for slidably mounting the chain assemblies to the filling mechanism and gear means for simultaneously moving the chain assemblies toward or away from each other.
 17. The machine of claim 15, including means for squaring up the side walls of the container prior to engagement of the leading corners of the container with the corner means on the first pair of opposed blocks.
 18. The machine of claim 17, in which the means for squaring up the side walls of the container includes a pair of spring-loaded arms for momentarily arresting movement of the container as it is pivoted into an upright position and pushing means for pushing the container against the arms to square up the side walls of the container and for pushing the squared container into the corner means in the conveyor blocks.
 19. The machine of claim 18, in which the pushing means also holds the container in eNgagement with said first pair of blocks after said transfer means releases the container and until the second pair of blocks is brought into engagement with the container.
 20. The machine of claim 16, wherein each end of the chain assemblies is supported by a supporting arm pivotally mounted to a fixed post that is located midway between the ends of the assemblies and each end having guide means and gear means for independent movement of the ends of the chain assemblies.
 21. A transfer mechanism for a container fabricating machine for transferring bottom formed containers from a container forming mechanism to a filling mechanism, and in which the bottom formed containers are removed from the container forming mechanism in a downwardly inclined direction of substantially 45* with respect to horizontal said transfer mechanism comprising: a. a transfer arm pivotally mounted for movement between a first position substantially aligned with the inclined axis of the discharged container and a second vertical position; b. a suction cup mounted on the end of the transfer arm for receiving and gripping the bottom of a container as it is removed from the container forming mechanism; c. actuating means for pivoting the arm and the container between said first and second positions; and d. means for selectively rotating the transfer arm and the suction cup 90* as it moves between said first and second positions to rotate the container about its longitudinal axis.
 22. The transfer mechanism of claim 21, in which the means for rotating the transfer arm includes fixed cam means, a cam follower connected to said arm, and a biasing spring for rotating the cam follower and the arm as the transfer arm pivots between said first and second positions, and locking means selectively locking the cam follower in a fixed position to prevent rotation of the arm.
 23. The mechanism of claim 21, in which the transfer arm is axially adjustable to accommodate containers of varying lengths.
 24. In a machine for top filling and sealing containers, a feeding mechanism for advancing bottom-formed containers linearly with a step-by-step indexing motion into successive registration with the machine''s operating stations, said feeding mechanism comprising: a. a supporting surface for supporting the bottom of the containers along which the containers are advanced through the machine; b. a pair of endless chain assemblies arranged in spaced parallel relation on opposite sides of the direction of travel of the container; c. means for adjusting the chain assemblies toward and away from each other; d. a plurality of conveyor blocks mounted on said chains in opposed transverse registration, each block of a first pair of opposed blocks having corner means for engaging a leading corner of a container and each block of the next succeeding pair of opposed blocks having corner means for engaging a trailing corner of the container; e. each of said blocks of said first pair also having similar corner means for engaging a trailing corner of the next preceding container and each of said blocks of the next succeeding pair having similar corner means for engaging a leading corner of the next succeeding container whereby the containers are firmly gripped by the corner means of adjacent pairs of opposed blocks as they move through the machine; and f. each of said blocks further having a plurality of corresponding, leading, and trailing corner means for accommodating containers of different base sizes.
 25. The machine of claim 24, in which the corresponding corner means on adjacent pairs of opposed blocks are symmetrical about a vertical axis which is coextensive with the longitudinal axis of the different sized containers held by the blocks.
 26. In a machine for forming containers from a tubular container blank having top and bottom foldable closure panels and having a bottom panel pressure sealing station including a press plate movable towArd and away from the bottom of the container, a top panel pre-breaking mechanism operated by and simultaneously with said pressure sealing means comprising: a. a pair of breaking fingers pivotally mounted in opposed relation adjacent an opposed pair of the top closure panels of the container; and b. means for operating said fingers including a lever arm connected to each finger and a pair of parallel rods, one end of each rod being connected to the press plate and the other end being connected to a lever arm whereby the fingers pivot in and out as the press head reciprocates to bring the fingers into engagement with the opposed top closure panels.
 27. The mechanism of claim 26, in which the lever arm is slidable with respect to the rod and including means for securing the lever arm in a fixed position to the rod, and in which each of said fingers is pivotally mounted on a supporting block that is slidably mounted to a fixed structure on either side of the container to permit the adjustment of the top-breaking mechanism for various sized containers. 